1. A centrifugal pump apparatus including a housing having first and second chambers partitioned from each other by a diaphragm, an impeller rotatably provided in said first chamber along said diaphragm, for delivering liquid by centrifugal force during rotation, and a drive unit provided in said second chamber for driving said impeller to rotate via said diaphragm, comprising:
a first magnetic material provided in one surface of said impeller;
a second magnetic material provided in an inner wall of said first chamber facing the one surface of said impeller, for attracting said first magnetic material;
a plurality of third magnetic materials provided in the other surface of said impeller, and arranged along a single circle such that adjacent magnetic polarities thereof are different from each other, wherein
said drive unit includes
a plurality of fourth magnetic materials arranged to face said plurality of third magnetic materials, and
a plurality of coils provided correspondingly to said plurality of fourth magnetic materials, respectively, each being wound around a corresponding one of the fourth magnetic materials for generating a rotating magnetic field, and wherein
during rotation of said impeller, a first attractive force between said first and second magnetic materials and a second attractive force between said plurality of third magnetic materials and said plurality of fourth magnetic materials are balanced with each other substantially in a center of a movable range of said impeller in said first chamber;
a control unit that causes said impeller to contact said diaphragm prior to activation of said impeller to rotate, by causing a current to flow through said plurality of coils such that said second attractive force becomes higher than said first attractive force; and
first grooves for a hydrodynamic bearing formed in the one surface of said impeller or in the inner wall of said first chamber facing the one surface, and second grooves for the hydrodynamic bearing formed in the other surface of said impeller or in said diaphragm facing the other surface;
wherein each of said first to third magnetic materials is a permanent magnet.
2. The centrifugal pump apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a sum of an absolute value of a negative axial supporting rigidity value of said impeller which is constituted of said first and second attractive forces and an absolute value of a positive radial rigidity value of said impeller is smaller than an absolute value of a positive rigidity value obtained by said first and second grooves in a normal rotation speed range where said impeller rotates.
3. The centrifugal pump apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a hydrodynamic pressure generated by said first grooves is different from a hydrodynamic pressure generated by said second grooves.
4. The centrifugal pump apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said first and second grooves is an inward spiral groove.
5. The centrifugal pump apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said fourth magnetic materials are made of a soft magnetic material.
6. The centrifugal pump apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control unit causes said impeller to contact said diaphragm when said impeller is activated to rotate, by causing a first current to flow through said plurality of coils, and then causes said impeller to rotate by causing a second current smaller than said first current to flow through said plurality of coils.
7. The centrifugal pump apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a diamond-like carbon coating for reducing frictional force is formed on at least one of a surface of said impeller and the inner wall of said first chamber.
8. The centrifugal pump apparatus according to claim 1, wherein surfaces facing each other of every two adjacent fourth magnetic materials are provided substantially parallel to each other.
9. The centrifugal pump apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising a fifth magnetic material provided correspondingly to each of the fourth magnetic materials, on a tip surface of a corresponding one of the fourth magnetic materials facing one of said third magnetic materials, wherein
a surface of said fifth magnetic material facing said third magnetic material has an area larger than an area of the tip surface of said fourth magnetic material.
10. The centrifugal pump apparatus according to claim 8, wherein
each of the fourth magnetic materials includes a plurality of steel plates stacked in a rotation direction of said impeller.
11. The centrifugal pump apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
a magnetic sensor provided in said second chamber to face a path through which said plurality of third magnetic materials pass, for detecting variation in magnetic field associated with rotation and change of position of said impeller; and
a control unit for causing a current to flow through said plurality of coils based on a detection result from said magnetic sensor, to generate a rotating magnetic field to drive said impeller to rotate.
12. The centrifugal pump apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising a first operation unit for determining an axial position of said impeller in said first chamber based on the detection result from said magnetic sensor.
13. The centrifugal pump apparatus according to claim 12, wherein said first operation unit outputs information indicating the axial position of said impeller to outside.
14. The centrifugal pump apparatus according to claim 12, further comprising a determination unit for determining whether or not the axial position of said impeller determined by said first operation unit is within a normal range, and outputting a signal indicating a determination result.
15. The centrifugal pump apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:
a first detection unit for detecting a voltage applied to each of the coils;
a second detection unit for detecting a current flowing through each of the coils; and
an operation unit for determining an axial position of said impeller in said first chamber based on detection results from said first and second detection units and information indicating a rotation speed of said impeller.
16. The centrifugal pump apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising a determination unit for determining whether or not the axial position of said impeller determined by said operation unit is within a normal range, and outputting a signal indicating a determination result.
17. The centrifugal pump apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising a determination unit for determining whether or not an axial position of said impeller is within a normal range based on the axial position of said impeller determined by said operation unit and the information indicating a rotation speed of said impeller, and outputting a signal indicating a determination result.
18. The centrifugal pump apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising a determination unit for determining whether or not an axial position of said impeller is within a normal range based on the axial position of said impeller determined by said operation unit, the information indicating a rotation speed of said impeller, and viscosity information on said liquid, and outputting a signal indicating a determination result.
19. The centrifugal pump apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said liquid is blood, and
said centrifugal pump apparatus is used for circulating said blood.
20. A centrifugal pump apparatus including a housing having first and second chambers partitioned from each other by a diaphragm, an impeller rotatably provided in said first chamber along said diaphragm, for delivering liquid by centrifugal force during rotation, and a drive unit provided in said second chamber for driving said impeller to rotate via said diaphragm, comprising:
a first magnetic material provided in one surface of said impeller;
a second magnetic material provided in an inner wall of said first chamber facing the one surface of said impeller, for attracting said first magnetic material;
a plurality of third magnetic materials provided in the other surface of said impeller, and arranged along a single circle such that adjacent magnetic polarities thereof are different from each other, wherein
said drive unit includes
a plurality of fourth magnetic materials each stationary during rotation of said impeller and arranged to magnetically couple with said plurality of third magnetic materials, and
a plurality of coils provided correspondingly to said plurality of fourth magnetic materials, respectively, each being wound around a corresponding one of the fourth magnetic materials for generating a rotating magnetic field, and wherein
during rotation of said impeller, a first attractive force between said first and second magnetic materials and a second attractive force between said plurality of third magnetic materials and said plurality of fourth magnetic materials are balanced with each other substantially in a center of a movable range of said impeller in said first chamber;
a control unit that causes said impeller to contact said diaphragm prior to activation of said impeller to rotate, by causing a current to flow through said plurality of coils such that said second attractive force becomes higher than said first attractive force; and
first grooves for a hydrodynamic bearing formed in the one surface of said impeller or in the inner wall of said first chamber facing the one surface, and second grooves for the hydrodynamic bearing formed in the other surface of said impeller or in said diaphragm facing the other surface;
wherein each of said first to third magnetic materials is a permanent magnet.
21. A centrifugal pump apparatus including a housing having first and second chambers partitioned from each other by a diaphragm, an impeller rotatably provided in said first chamber along said diaphragm, for delivering liquid by centrifugal force during rotation, and a drive unit provided in said second chamber for driving said impeller to rotate via said diaphragm, comprising:
a first magnetic material provided in one surface of said impeller;
a second magnetic material provided in an inner wall of said first chamber facing the one surface of said impeller, for attracting said first magnetic material;
a plurality of third magnetic materials provided in the other surface of said impeller, and arranged such that adjacent magnetic polarities thereof are different from each other, wherein
said drive unit includes
a plurality of fourth magnetic materials arranged to face said plurality of third magnetic materials, and
a plurality of coils provided correspondingly to said plurality of fourth magnetic materials, respectively, each being wound around a corresponding one of the fourth magnetic materials for generating a rotating magnetic field, and wherein
during rotation of said impeller, a first attractive force between said first and second magnetic materials and a second attractive force between said plurality of third magnetic materials and said plurality of fourth magnetic materials are balanced with each other substantially in a center of a movable range of said impeller in said first chamber; and
a control unit that causes said impeller to contact said diaphragm prior to activation of said impeller to rotate, by causing a current to flow through said plurality of coils such that said second attractive force becomes greater than said first attractive force.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A system for identifying data connection attributes, comprising:
a connection monitor that detects existence of at least one attribute associated with a data connection such that the at least one attribute describes at least one of a service capability or a trouble condition, associated with the data connection, the at least one of a service capability or a trouble condition comprising debugging capabilities of a port associated with the data connection; and
a signal module that activates operation of a status indicator of the data connection such that a manner of operation of the status indicator is associated with the at least one attribute of the data connection.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the data connection is one of a universal serial bus (USB) connection, an IEEE 1394 connection, an advanced technology attachment (ATA) connection, a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) connection a peripheral component interconnect (PCI) connection, a PCI express connection, a personal computer memory card international association bus (PCMCIA) connection, an express card connection, an IEEE 802.11x connection, an IEEE 802.16 connection, a code division multiple access (CDMA) connection, a time division multiple access (TDMA) connection, a global system for mobile communications (GSM) connection, a wireless USB connection, a Bluetooth connection, or an ultra-wide band connection.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the status indicator includes at least one light.
4. The system of claim 1, further comprising a diagnostic module that identifies the at least one attribute of the data connection.
5. The system of claim 4, wherein the diagnostic module further identifies a severity level of the at least one attribute of the data connection.
6. The system of claim 5, wherein the signal module uses the severity level to activate the operation of the status indicator.
7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a power module that monitors a state of power of the data connection.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one attribute of the data connection is at least one of an over-reservation of bandwidth, a connection of a high speed device in a full speed port, a failure of a device to properly connect on a port, existence of a configuration of a data connection in violation of a specification that applies to that data connection, an over-current condition, an under-current condition, or a need to use a debugging port.
9. A method for signaling existence of an operational condition associated with a data connection, comprising:
monitoring operational parameters of a data connection;
identifying whether a port associated with the data connection includes debugging capabilities; and
operating a status indicator of the data connection in a predefined manner that is associated with an operational parameter that is outside normal operational boundaries of the data connection.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein monitoring operational parameters of the data connection includes identifying a severity level of the operational parameter that is outside normal operational boundaries of the data connection.
11. The method of claim 9, wherein monitoring operational parameters of the data connection includes identifying the operational parameter that is outside normal operational boundaries of the data connection.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein operating a status indicator includes activating a light associated with the data connection.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein activating a light associated with the data connection includes at least one of flashing a light in a predefined sequence, causing the light to burn steadily, or causing the light to be a preselected color.
14. The method of claim 9, wherein monitoring operational parameters of the data connection includes monitoring power of the data connection.
15. A system for signaling existence of an operational condition associated with a data connection, comprising:
means for monitoring operational parameters of a data connection;
means for identifying whether a port associated with the data connection includes debugging capabilities; and
means for operating a status indicator of the data connection in a predefined manner that is associated with an operational parameter that is outside normal operational boundaries of the data connection.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the means for monitoring operational parameters of the data connection includes means for identifying a severity level of the operational parameter that is outside normal operational boundaries of the data connection.
17. The system of claim 15, wherein the means for monitoring operational parameters of the data connection includes means for identifying the operational parameter that is outside normal operational boundaries of the data connection.
18. The system of claim 17, wherein the means for operating a status indicator includes means for activating a light associated with the data connection.
19. The system of claim 18, wherein the means for activating a light associated with the data connection includes at least one of means for flashing a light in a predefined sequence, means for causing the light to burn steadily, or means for causing the light to be a preselected color.